Eric Idle rails against his Monty Python colleagues

Eric Idle has launched another broadside against his Monty Python colleagues, saying they were ungrateful for the millions he has earned them.

The comic created the lucrative Spamalot musical based on the Holy Grail film and took the lead on their farewell gigs at London’s O2 Arena in 2014.

However the troupe have long had a rancorous relationship over money, which Idle lashed out against in a new Q&A with the Guardian.

‘They got more fucking money than they’ve ever been grateful for,’ he said of his former colleagues.

‘They got fucking millions and they’re miserable and horrible and bitchy about it. I spent 20 years working for Python and then two years on the O2 show. They were there for two weeks.

‘I’m not really motivated by money, to be honest. Anyway, the producers get all the fucking money and divide it up according to the contract. 

‘Someone sued us for years, saying I was paying the Pythons money from my back pocket. And I said: why would I risk going to an American jail to give John Cleese more money?’

The O2 gigs, Monty Python Live (Mostly), came about after they lost a legal case against the producer of the Holy Grail film over royalties for Spamalot, leaving them with an  £800,000 bill.

Last year, Idle complained that he had been forced to keep working at the age of 80 because his income had dried up, saying: ‘I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded. Python is a disaster. Spamalot made money 20 years ago. I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.’

He blamed Terry Gilliam’s daughter Holly, who manages the troupe’s business affairs, suggesting she was not maximising the revenue they could make from the back catalogue.

But Cleese said she was ‘very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working, and pleasant to have dealings with’ – and said Michael Palin shared that view.

When a fan suggested another Python reunion to renew the finances, Idle said: ‘  gave already. Ungrateful bastards.’

In the new article, Idle – who has had a green card to work in the US for 28 years – said he would be proud to be thrown out of America for criticising Donald Trump.

He said: ‘There’s nothing funny about Donald Trump. What will be funny is when he leaves office and we have a big party and dance in the streets. Trump seems to have no end of capacity for stupidity. I think he’s a treasonous monster who works for Putin.

‘It’s very scary now because they’re stopping comedians at the border and if they have pictures of Trump on their phone they don’t like, they don’t let them in.'

Published: 13 Jul 2025